BACKGROUND
Water pollution is a significant environmental challenge in the Mekong Delta - one of Vietnam's key aquaculture regions - that poses serious threats to the aquaculture industry and thus the livelihoods of the rural agricultural communities there.
Three contributors to water pollution in the Mekong Delta are climate change, the aquaculture industry itself, and poor waste management infrastructure. Climate change has brought on many agricultural challenges, the most pressing being saline intrusion and unpredictable weather patterns (e.g. long dry spells and flooding).
Meanwhile, aquaculture activities like overfeeding and improper water management cause eutrophication and quality deterioration of local water sources. Thirdly, the lack of solid waste collection systems in these provinces lead to large trash dump sites that leak into waterways that people use for agriculture and their daily domestic needs. Water pollution in Mekong Delta has severe negative impacts on the aquaculture industry, such as low survival rates, stunted growth, high rates of disease outbreaks, and ultimately lower yields.
OBJECTIVE
To establish a sustainable climate resilient aquaculture value chain in Vietnam, especially focusing on reducing water pollution & waste generated because of aquaculture.
